Discussion

Chicago Sausage Pizza

Could someone point me in the direction of a Chicago deep-dish sausage pizza recipe, the kind that has the sausage in one big, flat disk (not crumbled and sauteed) and uses crushed tomatoes rather than a cooked down sauce?

Emeril's pizza uses the "usual" sliced and sauteed sausage, not one disk. While the second recipe is exactly what I wanted as far as the sauce and other particulars go (btw, thanks for that link), I still have the question about how to handle the sausage to get it in the one big patty. Is this something that Chicagoans are just born knowing how to do?

Yeah, I thought making adjustments to Emeril's was probably not the best approach but the second one looked very close to what you described.Can't help much with the sausage, except for layering pieces across the top as is typically done with commercial Italian sausage/salami pizzas.I did read some time ago that some restaurants have their sausage specially prepared (using casings similar to the type bologna is stuffed into) to enable them to use larger slices on sandwiches, etc. but I'm not personally familiar with those products.

I don't know anyone who makes deep dish pizza at home (at least more than once or twice as an experiment), because you really need the pizza oven for it to taste right. (I have a deep dish pan I've used exactly three times for pizza, mostly I just use it as a water bath for cheesecakes.

And I've never known anyone to do the layer of sausage like Uno's. However, it would seem to me that all you would have to do would be to squeeze the Italian sausage out of its casings and form a big patty.

On Throwdown with Bobby Flay, a Chicago-deep-dish-pizza king was challenged. He simply took raw, lean sausage and patted it onto the unbaked crust in a big disc covering the entire bottom crust. Then cheese. Then crushed tomatoes.

That's the part I was wondering about - the precooking or not of the sausage. It would seem too labor intensive for a busy restaurant to precook 15-inch disks of sausage, THEN move on to making the whole rest of the pizza but who knows? Stranger things go on in professional kitchens. I just wasn't sure if the sausage would cook through adequately during the baking time, given that it's "insulated" on top and bottom by other ingredients. It's worth giving a try though, I can only screw up one pizza before calling for take-out.

Most places use raw sausage. When I make deep dish, I push it into a skillet the same size as my pan, cold, and then put it on medium heat for a bit (until it's cooked enough to flip it without tearing it), then flip it, cook the other side, remove as much of the grease as I can, and then put it on top of the first layer of cheese, and the rest of the cheese, sauce, and anything else I'm adding. (I like carmelized onions and black olives.) Bake is 40 or 50 minutes at 450. The par cooking of the sausage wouldn't pass most health departments scrutany, but it's fine for home use. I can get a very good mild italian sausage made by my local grocery. if you can't johnsonville's isn't bad.

There's no reason that you can't do this at home. It's not even very hard. There's no magic from a pizza oven: most shops don't run over 600 F, and they're only that high to cut the bake time.

I just watched "Throwdown" with Bobby Flay and the throwdown was Chicago style pizza with Lou Malnati. Lou just put the dough in the pan going about 1/3 way up the side, layered 1 pound mozarella cheese, then he used 1 pound raw bulk sausage that he spread across the cheese in a flat, raw layer, then the sauce and last he sprinkled it with Parmesan. He baked it 45 minutes at 450. Let sit 5 min before slicing. Eat with knife and fork.

Dough: 4 cups APF, 1/3 c corn meal, heaping tbsp yeast, 2 tbsp salt, 1/2 cup butter(melted), 3 tbsp olive oil, 350 ml warm water....... mix 1/2 the flour and remaining ingredients, blend on low for 10 minutes, add rest of flour and knead for 5 min more. Let rise and double, punch down and separate into 2 balls to rest. You can freeze one of the balls for later use at this stage. Let dough rest for 1/2 an hour. I use a cast iron pan for my deep dish. Spread dough evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Lay sliced mozz on the bottom of the dough. Then add raw sausage, then i add drained diced tomatoes that i doctor up with one clove garlic, oregano and basil. Sprinkle parm or pecorino on top and bake at 425 for 40 to 50 minutes.